the Upward Projects blog

Our People Rock: Robert Thornton Paper Clouds Apparel

Robert is new to our team at Postino Central. When he’s not spending time with us, he’s busy building a pretty incredible business. Read on to learn more about Robert and his company, Paper Clouds Apparel!

Tell us about your day job.
I own a business called Paper Clouds Apparel. We raise funding for special needs schools and organizations while showcasing the amazing artistic talents possessed by those with special needs. We take a piece of art created by someone with special needs and transfer it to our shirts and other products such as greeting cards and prints. We team up with a different special needs school or organization every two weeks and 50% of the proceeds go to them. In addition to the 50% we give back, Paper Clouds Apparel also hires individuals with special needs to package ALL of our shirts. Did you know that 88-93% of all individuals with special needs of a working age are unemployed?! We take pride in creating work for these hard working individuals!

How did your business come about?
My mother was a bus driver for children with special needs in Northern California and while paying my folks a visit, I saw a drawing hanging on the fridge that really mesmerized me. I asked my mother about it and she told me a little girl on her route would draw on her ride to school and gave many drawings to my mother. I spent the whole night staring at this art and in the morning I thought it would look amazing on a shirt. Thus, Paper Clouds Apparel was born.

When you were in grade school, what did you want to be when you grew up? Why?
My passion when I was younger was baseball. It was all I ever thought about and playing Major League Baseball was all I wanted. Everything about the game intrigued me and I loved every second I was able to spend holding a ball or a bat. I was lucky enough to play some pro ball in Mexico, but my body just broke down on me and I had to hang up the spikes. Luckily I now have Paper Clouds Apparel, which is my passion and I eat, sleep, and breathe helping those with special needs.

What is your favorite part of your job?
There are two parts about Paper Clouds Apparel that make all the struggles and hard times worth it. One is receiving emails from parents whose child with special needs has their art on our shirts. These parents have told me this experience has completely changed their child by helping them find a new confidence in themselves. The other part that brings me joy is when I get to hang out with the individuals with special needs as they package our shirts. It is non-stop laughter and I walk away feeling so great! They light up the world when you spend time with them.

Would you rather discover the lochness monster or sasquatch?
I would definitely choose sasquatch. I love the wilderness and I would like to spend some time watching sasquatch go about his day-to-day life and marvel over his ability to remain free!

What’s next for Paper Clouds Apparel?
Next for Paper Clouds Apparel is just continuing to grow and spread our mission to the masses. You can literally change a life by purchasing one of our shirts. I am hoping this can help introduce many more people to what we are doing and hopefully they will help spread the word as well.

You can find Paper Clouds Apparel on Twitter, Facebook, and their website, and you can find Robert at Postino Central!